Have you been told that dumplings are only for meaty stews? That’s rubbish! I love them, and often add them to my meat-free stews and soups. These are made with egg and oil to replace the beef suet, and no-one will be able to tell the difference. The secret to good fluffy dumplings is to add them to hot liquid. Whether it is a stew or soup, it has to be boiling or they will not rise. The parsley is optional, you can leave it out or replace it with another herb such as thyme, winter savoury, sage or rosemary. Try them with Best Butternut Tagine
English Dumplings
English dumplings are traditionally made with beef suet. This is a vegetarian version, which is just as good. Even though they are usually served with a stew, they are lovely dropped into a vegetable soup. As a vegetarian stew cooks far quicker than a meat one, I add the dumplings to the stew as soon as it comes to the boil. Then everything is ready at the same time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 Tbsp Oil or melted butter
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1 Tbsp Fresh parsley (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Combine the milk, egg and oil in a mixing bowl
- Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl, over the wet ingredients
- Add the parsley if using
- Combine with a fork. Not too hard though, it must be just mixed and not kneaded, or your dumplings will be tough
- When your stew is boiling, drop handfuls of the dumpling mix onto the top of it.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook for about 40 minutes. If you are cooking in the oven you do not need to add a lid
- If you would prefer smaller dumplings for soups, use a pudding spoon to drop the mixture onto the soup. They cook in about 15 minutes